


Insomnia

by GypsySisters



Series: Falling Into Thedas [2]
Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Insomnia, Sharing Body Heat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-05-30
Packaged: 2018-07-11 02:29:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7023100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GypsySisters/pseuds/GypsySisters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate can't sleep with the weight of Thedas on her shoulders. Something's gotta give.</p><p>This is a one-off drabble, using the setting and OC Inquisitor from my larger work Falling Into Thedas (which I have sadly abandoned).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Insomnia

**Author's Note:**

> Backstory: 
> 
> Kate is from the Real World. She gets sucked into the Fade one night, loses her husband and daughter, and ends up in Thedas, at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, at the beginning of the events of Dragon Age Inquisition.

It was a mistake, but also a sign of deeper neglect.

Kate couldn't sleep. She'd lie in her bed, alone. The little girl she'd lost, the husband she'd never see again, they were like caverns of grief that burned out her soul. 

Most nights, she cried herself to sleep. 

Well, the nights that she was able to sleep. 

Her little house felt like a cage. That's how she took to wandering around Haven at night. Everyone asleep, she could breathe without painting the expression of a hero on her face. She could lose her pain to the darkness. She could pretend, for the briefest of moments, that the world was contained in the crunch of snow underfoot and the sting of the cold night air.

At least the stars were soothing. Even if they were different stars. Even if she was not allowed the comfort of knowing her family lay underneath the selfsame sky. 

“Perhaps you can return to them,” her companions would try to offer hope. “Perhaps you just need to find a way back.”

But she knew. Kate knew. In her gut. They were dead. There was no going back. 

She sat on the pier, outside Haven’s walls, and tears streaked her face as she lost herself in the stars. 

Gone. Gone. Gone.

Curled up over her hurt, exhausted and alone, that's how she fell asleep. 

And that's how Cullen found her. 

He was up before dawn, stretching in the morning air, preparing his mind for a grueling day. This was a morning ritual of his: to feel the bite of the cold air against his skin before donning his armor and the weight of all his responsibilities. This morning, as he emerged from his tent, however, a swatch of fabric caught his eye. Curious, he made his way over to the water, and as his footsteps thudded on the dock, they quickened.

Kate! The Herald! What was she doing here?!

Dewey frost crinkled on her clothing like shards of glass. How long had she been laying like this, above the waters? Her skin was cold to the touch. There wasn't a moment to lose. He picked her up, unconscious as she was, and brought her to his tent.

Tiny ice crystals melted in her hair. 

He laid her on his bed and checked her for signs of life. She was breathing. Her pulse was present, but weak. He piled blankets on her, but, instinctively, he knew it wouldn't be enough. Without a moment's hesitation, he peeled off his tunic and slid under the covers with her, pressing his warm body against her icy form, massaging her limbs, encouraging her blood to beat strong once again.

Slowly, she warmed up. 

He pressed his face against hers, cheek to cheek, and as her skin warmed from the contact, she sighed in her sleep. 

His hands were running around her body, rubbing her, bringing her back from the brink. But when she sighed in her sleep and nuzzled into him, his desperation shifted from one need to another.

She was going to be fine. She was warming up. She was just asleep now. Massaging her had helped. But there was no relief for the commander. With her body pressed against his own, lying in his bed, asleep in his arms, he felt a Sudden Need. For her. 

He'd felt it before, of course. 

She was...how could he put it? Infuriating. She was infuriatingly magnetic. Soft and bold and without a care for herself. 

And he was suddenly so _Angry_ with her. 

What was she doing on the docks?! How could she be so cavalier?! Doesn't she know that Thedas needs her?! The Inquisition needs her!

 _That I need her, too._

The thought made his heart stop the moment it entered his head. He was surprised, taken aback by his own onslaught of feeling. But as he looked down at the woman in his arms, and smoothed her wet hair away from her face, he knew it was true. His devotion to her had become personal. He desired her in ways that could only possibly serve as a distraction.

He continued to smooth her hair as he held her against his body, and she sighed contentedly in her sleep. 

The oblivion of sleep started to shift away. She felt secure. Warm. Soothed. She was pressed up against a body. It was the most natural thing in the world. Eyes closed, she shifted onto her back and stretched her arms over her head. When she opened her eyes, she saw Cullen leaning on his elbow, looking down at her as his body cradled her own. 

First of all, he wasn't wearing a shirt. More importantly, he was not wearing a shirt inches away from her. 

She ran her hand against his shoulders and down his chest. She sighed, groggily, and smiled closing her eyes again. This was a nice dream.

Shocked, he accepted her as she nuzzled back into his embrace. As she wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands found their way down her back and he secured her against him. 

She purred. She literally purred in his arms as he pressed her against himself. She purred and he felt his restraint slipping away. 

“My Grace…” He stammered. 

“Mmm. Just a minute longer,” she murmured, rolling her hips and rubbing her body against his. “I'm not ready to wake up.”

He smelled so good. She felt a pit inside of her belly melting like hot glass. His hands against her back, running up her spine, holding her close. And she could feel his need for her in his loins, pressed against her body. She rolled her hips again, crushing her own loins against his. 

He laughed. It was a husky release of air, mixed with tension and excitement. 

As she released her hold on him, she brought her cheek up his neck and brushed her face against his. The contact was invigorating. She brought her hand up and touched his cheek as she leaned back, her mouth opening in surprise. 

“Oh!”

“My Grace, please…”

Her cheeks flushed hot. “Oh! I'm so sorry. I thought. I thought…” She thought she was dreaming. 

“It's ok,” his face was stitched with concern. He shifted with her as she sat up in bed, the last fragments of sleepiness shattering in her consciousness. 

“But...how…?” She looked over at him, embarrassed. 

He rubbed the back of his neck. “I found you. On the dock. You were ice cold and I…”

“Oh my gosh,” she buried her face in her hands. “I'm so sorry.” Mortifying. This was just mortifying.

Cullen chuckled and put his arm around her shoulders, drawing her to him. “There is one thing I want to make clear.” He turned her face to him with his free hand and she looked up into his golden eyes as he smiled. “You, my Grace, have nothing to be sorry about.”

Oh. My. Freaking. Gosh. 

Her belly was on fire. Not possible. He was...just not possible. He was supposed to be a fiction. A character. An idea. But here he was and he cared for her and…

Crap. She wanted him. She wanted to feel his body against hers. He was the first good thing she'd felt since this whole mess started. She was not ready to let him go. But...could she be so bold?

She wanted more. 

The memory of his erection pressed against her made her ache, made her bold. 

She brushed a finger down his face and confessed, barely more than a whisper, “You'd be surprised at the things I should apologize for.” 

At that, it was Cullen's turn to be speechless. 

“I...I thought this was a dream...I never thought it would be possible…to feel anything except…” she couldn't bear to finish the thought. Her expression grew sad as she searched her feelings. 

And that's when Cullen pressed her against him and pressed his mouth against hers and they kissed. He leaned into her, clinging to her body, as she went from shock to excitement to release. The last of her icy pain melted. And it didn't really dissipate. Her grief still slid through her core like Mercury. But now there was something else there, as well. A fire born of need and desire. 

And for now, in this tent, in her commander’s arms, she found peace.


End file.
